While it lacks the character and history of it's cross-town colleague, Free State Brewing, this place puts out some consistently quality brews and food and caters to a slightly different crowd than Free State, making it a nice addition to the Lawrence beer scene.

For starters, the beer is quite good. Their lineup of regulars includes a very good IPA and Pale Wheat Ale, and they usually have a few rotating beers on tap to explore other styles. Things like saisons with peppercorns or brettanomyces as well as big Russian imperial stouts and the occasional barrel-aged take on a beer. Plus, they brewed one of my favorite local beers ever in collaboration with Free State and Blind Tiger (out of Topeka): a double red ale called The Full Kimono.

The food is pretty standard American pub fare, with sandwiches, fish and chips, pizzas, burgers, and a handful of more upscale entrees. There are a couple misses on the menu, but overall, the quality is consistent enough that I will order several different items depending on my mood. Again, don't expect gourmet, but it's rib-sticking pub comfort food.

Service has never been an issue--the waitstaff is warm and friendly and I've yet to have a bad experience there.

The atmosphere is a little sterile due to the enormous vaulted ceiling over the entire dining room and the setup that has the brewing tanks up above/behind the bar sitting on top of the kitchen area. It makes for a cool scene--being able to see where they brew all their beers while you eat your dinner, but it also makes it a bit cavernous. I will say this--the entire place is covered in TVs for local and national sporting events, and they have a package that gets them about any Euro soccer game that you might want to watch. They will happily change a TV or six to something of your liking, and it's a great place to watch Kansas Jayhawk basketball games, for those who like such things.

Value isn't terribly expensive, but it's not cheap either. Pretty much middle of the road.

Excellent beer, service and food. Nobody does calamari like 23rd Street.The staff is friendly and informative about their brews. Awesome place to go for this out-of-towner. They have many TV's for your sports entertainment. Their 666 Belgian Strong Golden Ale rivals Delirium Tremens. Our college girl is graduating next month and I'll miss going to Lawrence and getting to 23rd Street.

OK, I hate to be flat out negative about a brew pub, but this place really stank. I had two beers (Old School Porter and their Brown Ale) and both tasted like they were made by a first time home brewer...and a poor first time brewer as well.

Add to the bad beer really terrible food. My son, wife and I each had something different (burger, french roast sandwich, and a reuben), and we all thought they were the worst version of said sandwich we'd ever had. The 1/2 pound hamburger was clearly a 1/3 pound burger as well as dry, on a crumbling bun and with the smallest amount of cheese that I've ever seen put on a burger. The reuben came on burned bread, the corned beef was as dry as chipped beef, and the sour kraut and thousand island dressing would of taken a microscope to locate. And the fries...lovely seasoned fries in which in the seasoning appeared to be nothing but tons of salt.

Luckily, the prices are really high for Lawrence, too. We went for sandwiches because there is no way meatloaf is worth $14 in Lawrence, KS. It's a freakin' college town and prices are very reasonable for food here, but NOT at the 23rd Street Brewery.

Being a regular of Free State, I'd hoped that there would be a second brewery in Lawrence I'd be able to visit, but I'll never go here again. Having lived about 5 blocks from 23rd Street's former associated brewery in Kansas City, the 75th Street Brewery, I'm happy the two are no longer owned/operated by the same people. 75th Street is good....both for food and beer, and this place made me wish I'd ordered a Miller Lite...'nuff said!

This place has a quality sports bar atmosphere to go along with a number of good micro brews. I especially enjoy the "scenery" every time I am served. I would recommend Bitter Professor IPA and Crimson Phog. They are a few of their better traditional brews. Another good one is their Oatmeal Stout. Also, keep an eye out for the Firkin tappings that happen about once a month on Friday evenings. I had a Chocolate Brown Ale that was awesome. My only beef with this place is that they doubled prices for their Wednesday night pint night special. Otherwise, it's a solid brewpub.

I reviewed Freestate as well and I have to say for the reviews I saw on Free state about the college crowd I didn't get those when we went but we did happen to go to 23rd St, on a Saturday when the Jayhawks were in the NCAA tourney. Bad idea I thought. The atmosphere as some people say was a huge sports bar and it was. The food and the drinks were great even though the place was super busy for the game. Had a flight of all the beers on tap for the day and I was suprised. Those guys in KS know what they are doing. For a guy like me who wasnt an IPA fan, the bitter professor was excellent. The Crimson phog was a great beer as well. If youre ever in Lawrence, stop on in. Its well worth it.

Stopped in on a day when the temp was 107 and their air conditioner was not firing on all cylinders. Good for me because the sultry young waitstaff all looked a bit sweaty and hot like a (bad) Coors Light commercial.

I sat at the bar and had a pale and an exceptional IPA. This was my fourth Kansas City/Kansas brewpub stop in two days and I was struggling to find a low malt, citrusy/floral IPA and this totally hit the spot - I think Bitter Professor. I also had a sample of the altbier which was average based on my altbier knowledge.

Had the goat cheese and mandarin orange salad which was very good.

They have $6 pitchers on Tuesday and the bartender told me some people will drink up to 4 pitchers by themselvers (16 beers).

Did Free State prior to this and 23rd would be my choice if I find myself in Lawrence again.

This place is absolutely a blast. The atmosphere is very casual, and it is pretty common to have 10-20 people sitting at the bar conversing with people they have never met before. Everyone is very friendly and polite. The service is great. All bartenders and servers are very friendly and helpful. The food is delicious. I would recommend the chicken marsala, chicken fried steak, or the meatloaf, but I have never had a bad meal there. They typically have 6-8 beers on tap, 4 are always on tap (wave the wheat, raspberry wheat, crimson phog, and bitter professor IPA) but also have 3-4 seasonals out at any given time. The bitter professor is great, and the others are fairly standard entries, but the seasonals are often the best.

My brother lived in Lawrence for an extended period of time and 23rd street brewery was a rocks throw away from his apartment.

The location lacks intrigue with a Hy-Vee and Plato's Closet surrounding it. However, once you enter you know the place means beer. A high circular ceiling is accented with a vat at the top of the ceiling. Dimly lit with a big dark wooden bar and high tables surrounding the entrance.

Their IPA and PORTER are both great for a small brewery. The beer list itself isn't amazing but they do get creative with wheat beers; throwing in a regular fruity wheat of some sort.

The atmosphere is great and I found myself loosing track of time and going balls-deep into brews all night long. If only it was downtown Lawrence!!!

In terms of atmosphere, this is a great place if you want to have good brewpub beer and see a game on TV. Everywhere you sat there was a TV in sight. The beers were all pretty good. I had the IPA, ESB and Wheat. The service was good. Our waitress was prompt considering how packed the place was (KU vs MU game). The beer selection was pretty good. 8 beers on tap. The only knock on the selection was that there were too many 'lighter' beers - Wheat, Raspberry Wheat and Blonde. The food was not bad. Nachos were good, pub fries were average and my mushroom swiss burger was decent. The portions were massive. My friend took home a half of a huge BLT. One major disappointment was that I could fill my growler that I have from another place. It may be a Kansas law. Otherwise it was a good experience.

Really a great place. I've been going to Free State, but it's really annoying to be downtown when all the undergrads start drinking. So it's nice to be away from it and 23rd street is a great place to have a more relaxed atmosphere. Today I went for lunch, which was definitely not crowded and quite nice.

Quality was fine. Everything was fresh etc. No real complaints.

Service was great. I sat at the bar today and the bartender was a great guy. He wasn't too busy, so it made it easy to chat with him a bit. But he knew a decent amount about beer, served me food and drniks promptly, and filled me in on the happenings. also offered me their mug club membership which was cool. I went ahead and got it.

I went in again today, and the brewmaster was finishing work on his ESB. It hit the tap lines as I was finishing my first beer. He gave me a sample of It and I thought it was really good. I grabed had the bartender pour me up a mug and as I almost finished, the brewmaster came out and filled up my mug again for free. It was pretty sweet. That's what I love about small brewpubs! Definitely went up another notch in my book.

Selection was fine. They had 6 beers on tap today. They always try to have 4: their wheat, raspberry wheat, IPA, and Red. Other than that they had 2 seasonals on: Wit and Brown. They try to always have 1 seasonal on at least and it sounds like throughout the course of the year they'll put up around 20 beers or so. Really can't complain. Solid stuff.

Food was great. I had the So Cal Turkey Wrap. It was great, and so were the fries. They just revamped the menu so there should be a few new things if you haven't been in a while.

Value, well it's quite reasonable. $3.50 pints plus they run at least 1 beer on special every Wednesday. In addition, for their members you get a bunch of other discounts etc.

Beers are basically just as good as Free State, and some are better. I've not had all the offerings from either brewpub yet, so we'll see how it pans out in the end. But I'd stand by this joint and plan on going as often as possible.

11/19/08I swung by today to grab some of the Porter that recently went on tap. It was a great Porter, and it got me thinking about my review. So I wanted to add that the brewmaster, Bucky, is a really talented dude. I've been enjoying several of his beers lately, and he's been working on some neat stuff. Last week he had a firkin of his porter that he had added some sugarcane rum infused toasted coconut. Next week he is putting up a firkin of his IPA that he's tweaked a bit, and he's got an Impy Stout that he's been aging in Whiskey Barrels for the past year that he's going to release soon. So my compliments go out to Bucky, and really makes me want him to get more credit. Seems like everyone goes to Free State and no one goes to 23rd, when really they deserve just as much attention.

I visit this brewpub regularly and enjoy all of the flagship beers as well as the seasonal rotations. The restaurant has been four other restaurants in my 8 years in lawrence. This is by far the best and most successful. They seem to have the cross town rivals Free State defeated in all departments in my book. The beer is better and they have more of a selection. The food is probably about the same, but the atmosphere is much better and you don't have to drive around for 30 minutes trying to find a parking spot either. With my limited exposure to brewpubs being just those in Kansas, this one seeems to be the best IMHO.

This place is now known as the 23rd St. Brewery (which makes more sense, since it's on 23rd in Lawrence -- a.k.a. Clinton Parkwy -- and not 75th Street as is the case with its sister establishment in Kansas City, MO).

The building is nondescript on the outside, but nice within. High domed ceiling gives it a sort of "beer cathedral" look, except for the open hanging venting, which adds to the bar decor. Hmm... a dive bar cathedral. Interesting combination. It seems a lot rommier than it is, but doesn't seem as though it would ever feel crowded. The dinner crowd wasn't overly large when I visited, as the location is slightly out of the way. I sat at the end of the L-shaped bar and was overlooked by the bartender a few times, until the guy next to me got up to pay and forced the 'tender to come down my way.

There were twelve taps running when I visited, and they only carry their own beers on tap, as they patiently explained to the college kid who came in, sat down, and was immensely disappointed to find he'd have to drink his Bud Light in a bottle.

Food prices are reasonable, and beer prices are not at all out of the norm for this area.

If you find yourself in this part of Lawrence, it's worth stopping in. Nice place, nice people, good beer... nothing wrong with that, right?

First off, as a public transportation person, I want to note that this location is easily accessible on the # 5 (westbound) bus.

Interestingly, the corners of the building were the only places where the name of the company appeared. The front entrance, situated in the parking lot, was strangely blank. Things that made me go Hmmmm .

As I entered, there was a short vestibule, followed by the maitre d station to the immediate right. This location featured an unusual circular layout, with a high vaulted roof made of wood slats, resembling the top of a silo. Steel beams supported the roof and the interior was ringed by upright I-beams for further support. The all-wood bar was located at a short left oblique from the maitre d station and was in the shape of a flying V. To the right of the bar was the restaurant area with high tables and chairs as well as some booths. Further right and up a couple of steps were the standard restaurant tables and chairs with more booths lining the walls. On the far side of the space from the entry was a small game room with a pool table and a couple of video games. The washrooms were on opposite sides of the entryway, with the Mens on the left and the Womens on the right. I cannot speak for the latter, but the former featured Eljer full-length urinals, brushed aluminum stalls, and stone tiles, all of which was impressive.

My visit was early on a Saturday afternoon, and to my surprise, one of the brewers, Micah Weichert, was actually in and brewing. He explained to me that this was due to a glycol failure the day before and not his standard practice. His loss proved to be my gain, since we had a nice discussion. The brewhouse and Fermentation Vessels were located on the second floor and fully visible, depending upon where you might decide to sit. They had seven (7) beers on tap during my visit: Wheat, Raspberry Wheat, Belgian-style Wit, Alt, Brown, Red, and IPA. Nothing stood out as Wow! but neither was there anything that was undrinkable.